Kobe Bryant Settles with Auction House After Spat with Mom

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — An auction of Kobe Bryant memorabilia will move forward after the Los Angeles Lakers player reached a settlement with the auction house that was given the items by Bryant’s mother.

Ken Goldin, owner of Goldin Auctions in New Jersey, announced on Monday that his auction house reached a settlement with Bryant for the sale of six items from his career to take place online from June 17 to July 19, as first reported by ESPN.

The auction was originally scheduled to take place three weeks earlier, but it was postponed after Bryant’s attorney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Goldin Auctions, saying his mother, Pamela Bryant, was not authorized to consign about 100 items to the auctioneer.

In turn, Goldin sued Kobe Bryant, asking a judge for clarification over the items’ ownership because the auction house paid $450,000 as an advance to his mother in January, which she used for a new home in Nevada.

Five years ago, she had asked her son what he wanted to do with the items, but he had no interest in them, the lawsuit filed by Goldin said.

“Pamela Bryant also indicated that her son gave these items to her stating, ‘Here mom, these are for you,’” the complaint said.

Goldin said he was “thrilled” that they reached a settlement, the terms of which he declined to disclose.

Bryant’s attorney, Mark D. Campbell of law firm Loeb & Loeb LLP, said Bryant would not comment on the matter but provided a statement to ABC News: “On behalf of Loeb & Loeb’s client Kobe Bryant, we are pleased to announce that a settlement has been reached in the dispute involving his mother, Pamela Bryant, and Goldin Auctions over the proposed auctioning of Kobe Bryant sports memorabilia. The terms of the settlement are confidential.”

Joe and Pamela Bryant said in a statement, “We regret our actions and statements related to the Kobe Bryant auction memorabilia. We apologize for any misunderstanding and unintended pain we have caused our son and appreciate the financial support he has provided over the years. We also apologize to Goldin Auctions for their inadvertent involvement in this matter and thank them for their assistance.”

Though the number of Bryant’s items available to be auctioned dropped by 90 percent with this recent settlement, Goldin said he is “very happy” with the latest selection.

The six items from Bryant include two of Bryant’s Lower Merion High School uniforms, a 1996 Magic’s Roundball Classic All Star medallion and ribbon, his 2000 NBA All-Star Game ring, and two NBA championship rings issued by the Lakers and gifted by Kobe to Joe Bryant.

Goldin said five of the six items have potential to be six-figure items, “with a couple well into the six figures.” Fifty percent of the proceeds from four of Bryant’s items will be donated to a charity to be announced later, he said.

Goldin said about a dozen other items related to Bryant, not provided by the Bryant family, will be auctioned. Those include Los Angeles Lakers jerseys and a prototype of patriotic Adidas sneakers worn by Kobe Bryant after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Another 1,155 items of other sports memorabilia will also be auctioned by Goldin, including a bat belonging to Jackie Robinson.